How to see the Space Station pass overhead

[dragonrider]

Have you ever watched the International Space Station pass overhead? I've seen it several times. It looks like a star moving across the sky. Often it is very bright, almost as bright as Venus. If you have ever seen a satelite, the ISS is generally much brighter than most other satelites you can see. Usually you have to get out of the city to see a regular satelite, but the ISS is often visible from the city on a clear night.

When the Space Shuttle is visiting the Space Station, it usually spends a day or two to catch up to the space station, and it is sort of amazing to see both of them passing overhead, one bright star following another.

This website tells you when and where to look to see the Space Station, and other big, bright satelites like the Hubble Space Telescope: Welcome to Heavens-Above

This might look like a long explanation but it is really very easy to do. You tell the site where you are --- it tells you where to look.

1. I usually use the site anonymously and select the Select your location from our huge database option.
   
2. On the Select Country screen, select the country where you will watch for the satelite.
   
3. On the Select Town screen, enter the city or town where you will watch for the satelite.
   
4. If more than one match comes up in the Town Search Results screen, select the right one from the list.
   
5. The Main Menu screen appears and shows you some summary info about the observing site you have selected and provides links to all the satelites you can get predictions for.
6. If you want predictions for the International Space Station, select ISS.
7. If the Sapce Shuttle is up and you want predictions for it, select STS-###. (That's space transportation system and mission number)
8. If you want predictions for the Hubble Space Telescope, select HST.
9. There are several other satelites you can select as well.
10. The next screen shows the visible passes for the next ten days for the satelite you selected. I attached the screen I got when I selected the Space Station for my area.

Here's what the chart means:

I ran the predictions on the 8th, but you can see there are no visible passes until the 12th. Dang! This is because the angle of the orbit does not bring the station over my location at night at a time when it is still illuminated by the sun until then. It might still go directly overhead in the next few days, but it's either in the daytime, or late at night in the earth's shadow, when it cannot be seen.

The Mag column tells you how bright it is going to be. Small numbers are brighter. Negative numbers are brightest. The brightest pass on my chart is the Feb 16 pass with a mgnitude of -2.2

You have both the Start and End Times, so you can see how long the pass will last. Feb 16 is also a long pass, about 5 minutes.

You have both the Start and End Az (stands for azimuth, basically the direction), so you can see where it's going to start in the sky and where it is going to end. The Feb 16 pass, starts in the NW (North West) and ends in the SE (South East). Basically this pass starts at one side of the sky and ends at the opposite, so it goes almost directly overhead. That's why it is a long pass and why it is so bright.

The Max Altitude columns tell you how high in the sky it will get and when and where that will happen. Al stands for altitude and tells you the angle off the horizon --- 0 is on the horizon and 90 is straight overhead. The Feb 16 pass has a maximum altitude of 70 degrees, so it goes almost directly overhead.

So here's what I would do if I wanted to see the Feb 16 pass, which looks like a pretty good one for my location. (This is only for my location --- you need to run the chart for yourself to get accurate times an angles.) I'd make sure it was a clear night. Any haze will ruin it. It's possible to see it from my backyard, but if possible I'd go to a dark location with a broad view of the sky. And even better I'd bring a friend and a joint. The pass is starting at 18:39 (6:39 pm), so I'd want to be there early. There may still be twiligth then, but if it was dark, it would be good to let the eyes adjust to the darkness.

We'd smoke the joint and make idle chit chat for awhile. A few minutes before 6:39, I'd say, "Hey, have you ever seen the Space Station?"

They'd say, "What the hell are you talking about?"

I'd say, "The Space Station is coming up right over there at 6:39."

They'd say, "You're full of shit."

I'd start to look toward the north west scanning above the horizon for a moving "star." When it popped up, I'd say, "Wooooo-hoooo! There goes the freakin' Space Station!"

It's a fun trick.

Try it a few times before you decide to blow someone's mind just to be sure you know how it works. And make sure your watch is set for the exact time.

dragonrider Reviewed by dragonrider on 02-09-2008. How to see the Space Station pass overhead Have you ever watched the International Space Station pass overhead? I've seen it several times. It looks like a star moving across the sky. Often it is very bright, almost as bright as Venus. If you have ever seen a satelite, the ISS is generally much brighter than most other satelites you can see. Usually you have to get out of the city to see a regular satelite, but the ISS is often visible from the city on a clear night. When the Space Shuttle is visiting the Space Station, it usually Rating: 5

[Kryptonite24]

ehhh to much to read and do.lol
but cool anyways. might check it out later

[dragonrider]

ehhh to much to read and do.lol
but cool anyways. might check it out later

Lot to read, but not really much to do. It's is easy! I just wanted to give all the details, but it is really self-explanatory after you click the link.

Blow your freinds' minds!

[Kryptonite24]

lol yea
i think space stuff is sick though. i always wanted a telescope. it would be sick to see other planets with ur own eyes

[dragonrider]

lol yea
i think space stuff is sick though. i always wanted a telescope. it would be sick to see other planets with ur own eyes

Space is cool. I've got a pretty good telescope. Did you see my moon pics? http://boards.cannabis.com/science/1...telescope.html

[Coelho]

Hey Dragonrider! Thanks very much for this information! :thumbsup:
I already did see a lot of satellites cross the sky, but never thought about trying to see the ISS... dont know if it will be visible from my (south) hemisphere, anyway, i will look at the link you posted.
And i will look to the sky as soon the rain stops...

[dragonrider]

Hey Dragonrider! Thanks very much for this information! :thumbsup:
I already did see a lot of satellites cross the sky, but never thought about trying to see the ISS... dont know if it will be visible from my (south) hemisphere, anyway, i will look at the link you posted.
And i will look to the sky as soon the rain stops...

Coelho! Good to see you, man! You will definitly get some good passes. The orbit is inclined enough that there are very few places far enough north or south to not get at least some good views.

Another tip: Sometimes I like to bring my binoculars just to make it that much brigher. Looking at the sky throguh good binoculars is great.

[Funkmaster H.O.H.N.]

That would be pretty cool to see while high, I'm gonna have to check it out.

[beachguy in thongs]

Cool! Thanks!!!

[dragonrider]

There is a NASA site I used to use that does pretty much the same thing: J-Pass

It doesn't really work for me anymore on my browser, and I'm not sure why.

The only reason I mention it is because of the name: J-Pass! I imagine a bunch of NASA space geeks sittng around tracking satelites and passing a jay! Hahahah!

How did they ever get that one past the boss?

"We're thinking of calling it J-Pass."

"J-Pass, eh? Sounds A-OK to me boys!"